


Wherever You Are Is The Place I Belong

by Silveny-Dreams (VintageOT5)



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Pining, Self-Indulgent, not necessarily canon but not necessarily not-canon, this should probably be rated for general audiences but I didn't know how making out ranked
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 07:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20617337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VintageOT5/pseuds/Silveny-Dreams
Summary: Sophie can't sleep, and neither can Keefe. Sophie decides to share human snacks with him.





	Wherever You Are Is The Place I Belong

**Author's Note:**

> I've got to credit @Sophies_Earbuds with, like, at least half (if not more) of the concepts I expanded upon in this fic. He's the best.
> 
> This is me healing my heart after Flashback and bracing myself for potential disappointment in Legacy--the fluff these two absolute idiots both need and deserve.
> 
> Title from Ready To Run by One Direction.
> 
> Enjoy! x

Sophie Foster knew she had chronic insomnia. It was one of the natural side effects of all the traumatic things she’d experienced, part of the constant worry that followed every big decision she had to make. And she knew her insomnia wasn’t a secret either, not from the people who knew her.

So she shouldn’t have been surprised that, after a half an hour of staring at the ceiling, gazing at the crystals that would light up the second she snapped her fingers, she saw a faint glow on the ceiling from where her Imparter laid.

“Knew I could count on the Mysterious Miss F to be awake at this hour,” Keefe smirked as Sophie answered the hail.

Sophie grimaced, studying his face for any signs of trouble. “This is pretty late for you to be awake, though.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the only one with lasting trauma, are you now?” Keefe quipped, winking, but Sophie could see the steel of pain in his eyes.

“I know. Sorry for that. Don’t bother arguing; we both know I have a share of the blame.”

Keefe still looked like he was going to protest, so Sophie cut him off quickly. “Wanna come over? Maybe the company will help.”

She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to invite anyone over in the middle of the night. But she also figured it would be better to beg Grady and Edaline’s forgiveness than ask their permission at this hour.

Something in Keefe’s face softened, the steel in his eyes receding. “Only if you promise to share more cool human stuff with me.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Sophie brightened. “Yeah, come over. I can _literally _share some human stuff with you.”

Keefe looked intrigued as he severed the connection, and a few moments later Sophie and Sandor met him and Ro at the back door.

“Late night rendezvous, huh?” Ro asked, smirking and waggling her eyebrows.

Keefe rolled his eyes, and Sophie felt her face flush a little.

“Come on, ogre. Let’s see if your senses detect anything on my patrol that I’ve missed,” Sandor instructed, marching out the door without a backward glance. “Although I doubt it.”

That was a surprise. Usually Sandor preferred to be attached to Sophie at the hip.

“Typical goblin arrogance,” Ro sniffed, following behind him and leaving Sophie and Keefe alone.

“So what’s all this about literally sharing human stuff?” Keefe asked as Sophie let him inside and shut the door behind them.

Sophie grinned, looking a little sheepish. “Oh, you’ll be pretty proud of me. It’s _illegal_.”

Keefe’s eyes got wider, and a look of pride spread across his face.

“Illegal? Better be careful, Foster, or someone might think I’m rubbing off on you.”

Sophie crossed her eyes at him and led the way into the kitchen.

“I had a little help from Dex,” Sophie admitted, opening the pantry and pushing aside elven ingredients on the back shelf. “He scrambled my registry pendant feed for, like, a half an hour so I could do this.”

Sophie turned around, arms bulging with packaged human snacks. “Worth it?”

Keefe’s grin was positively delighted. “Oh, Foster. This may be the best thing you’ve ever done.”

Sophie grinned and emerged from the pantry with her bounty, dropping the armfuls of snacks on the island counter.

“Humans are so freaky and it’s fantastic,” Keefe said, grinning as he picked up different wrapped snacks. “Look, it’s called an Airhead. Love it! And this thing is apparently a Snickers. Sign me up!”

Sophie laughed and grabbed the massive bucket of cheese puff balls and a box of Pockys. “All these snacks and it didn’t even cost me one full luster.”

“It’s official—I'm going with you on your next snack run,” Keefe declared, looking dreamy-eyed as he scooped up some Pixie Stix and Pop Rocks.

He paused, squinting at a cracker box, long enough that Sophie cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Sorry,” Keefe said, grinning. “I thought that box said Fitz Vacker for a second.”

Sophie blinked and looked at the cracker box, then burst out laughing. Ritz Crackers, Fitz Vacker—how hadn’t she noticed _that_ before?

“Oh, wait, I almost forgot!”

Sophie set down her snacks momentarily and pulled out her old iPod, newly tricked out by Dex. She tapped the screen a few times until her Panic! At The Disco playlist was blaring “Hallelujah” louder than a normal iPod could.

“Loved me some Panic back in the day,” Sophie explained while grabbing her snacks again, leading Keefe back into the living room.

“You love you some panic _now_, Foster,” Keefe teased, plopping himself onto the couch and setting his snacks in his lap. “And It's a bad habit, if you ask me.”

Sophie stuck her tongue out at him and opened the jar of cheese puff balls, popping a few into her mouth and crunching.

“Mmmm,” she sighed, the taste of human snacks reeling her mind back to simpler times with her human family. “God, I forgot how great these are.”

“Holy gulons, what is this?” Keefe exclaimed, sticking his tongue out.

Sophie snorted. “Welcome to the chaos that is Pop Rocks, my friend.”

“They’re tho loud!” Keefe spoke in a lisp around his tongue as the pop rocks fizzled and snapped on his tongue. “Thith feelth weird.”

“Close your mouth while you’re eating,” Sophie giggled, reaching her hand up and gently nudging his chin shut.

Keefe complied, eyes wide as he took in the sensation and the flavor. Sophie couldn’t help snickering at him, and he shot a playful glare at her as he swallowed all the candy on his tongue.

“That stuff should come with a warning label. It’s like blitzenberries, but...sharper?”

“I’ll pretend I know what that means.”

“Whatever, give me one of those orange ball thingies you just ate.”

“Only if you hand me a Pixie Stick.”

It was probably counterintuitive, Sophie realized, to try and unwind in the middle of the night by gorging herself on human sugar—quite literally, where the Pixie Stix were concerned. But she’d rather be awake in the wee hours of the morning eating junk with Keefe Sencen than struggling to stay asleep, fending off nightmares of anything from dark cloaked figures to Twinkle the titanoboa bursting out of the ground.

Truth be told...she’d rather just be with Keefe. He could guess her emotions with annoying accuracy, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, he never pushed. He’d been through a lot, just like she had, and sometimes it felt like they were the only ones keeping each other going, keeping each other sane. So Sophie was glad he was here.

The human junk food was just a fun bonus.

“These Panic guys are kinda weird,” Keefe murmured around a bite of Airhead candy as “Old-Fashioned” started to play back in the kitchen.

“It’s pop punk,” Sophie said, crunching thoughtfully on a cookies and crème Pocky. “It’s supposed to defy some of the musical norms.”

“It’s kinda noisy.”

“_You’re _kinda noisy.”

“You love me for it,” Keefe insisted, waggling his eyebrows. “And it doesn’t matter how weird or noisy your Panic music is—we all know I can bust some serious moves to it!”

He jumped up off the couch and started wiggling his hips in a goofy dance.

Sophie cracked up, relishing the grin that spread on Keefe’s face when he realized he’d made her laugh.

(Did she maybe spend a second too long watching his hips sway to the music? She’d never tell.)

She surprised herself and hopped up, too, doing her own goofy dance with him.

Keefe laughed in surprise. “Miss F’s got some groove!”

“Never tell a soul about this,” Sophie warned him as she tried an experimental shimmy. “Or I will drop you with the full might of my inflicting abilities.”

“I wouldn’t dare. This is too rich for anyone else to know about.”

Sophie made a face at him and kept dancing, deciding to embrace her inner goof for the night. He shrugged, waggling his eyebrows, and danced alongside her with his own ridiculous dance moves.

Only Keefe could coax out this side of her. Sophie could be whoever she wanted around Keefe.

“Dancing’s Not A Crime” came on next, and Sophie started moonwalking while wiggling her arms directly at him, making a ridiculous face.

Keefe threw his head back and belly-laughed, and Sophie grinned, blushing.

“How are you _doing _that? That’s a dance move that I’ve _got_ to learn,” he pleaded.

“In a minute,” Sophie insisted, grabbing one of his hands and twirling herself around. “This is one of my favorite songs.”

Keefe grinned and obliged her, doing all kinds of ridiculous goofy dances to Brendon Urie singing “dancing’s not a crime / unless you do it without me”.

Sophie could cross “goofy-dancing with a friend to this song” off her bucket list now. She hadn’t had any friends in the human world to try it with...plus? Keefe was _way_ better than most humans.

She spent the next twenty minutes trying to teach an already-sugar-high Keefe Sencen how to moonwalk, and then how to floss, which ended up in them collapsing on the couch in giddy exhaustion, reaching for more snacks.

“These used to be my human mom’s favorite candy to get at the movie theaters,” Sophie said as she popped a few Milk Duds into her mouth. “They’re okay, I guess. They don’t seem very milky to me.”

“I dunno what flavor these are,” Keefe said around a mouthful of cheese puffs, “but cheese is not really my first inclination. And yet I can’t stop eating them.”

The bucket of cheese puffs was surprisingly close to empty already—how many had they eaten? Sophie couldn’t really remember—and once Keefe cleared out the rest, he looked at her with mischief in his eyes and turned the bucket upside down, fitting it onto his head like a hat.

“You can call me Captain Cheese Puff,” he said, trying very hard to keep a straight face.

Sophie burst into laughter, and she laughed even harder when she tried to catch her breath and she snorted instead.

Keefe couldn’t help laughing at that, and Sophie hoped to god that she saw fondness in his eyes as he gazed at her.

She reached up and flicked the bucket with her finger, making a soft _thunk_ noise against the plastic.

“Captain Cheese Puff is gonna have cheese dust in his precious hair if he keeps that on much longer,” Sophie giggled.

Keefe’s gaze was soft, full of an emotion Sophie couldn’t place, but that made her face flame.

“Worth it, I think,” Keefe murmured, then closed his eyes and knocked on the bucket like he was knocking on a door. “Now I’ll have cheese dust protection from ogre attacks.”

Sophie snorted, grinning and shaking her head. “You’re ridiculous.”

“That’s the way you like me,” Keefe insisted, winking and reaching for a Snickers bar.

Sophie blamed the sugar for making her feel all jittery as “House of Memories” started playing in the kitchen.

“Whoo, I’m going to _crash_ later, but right now it feels like I could sprint for miles,” Sophie remarked, bopping her head in time with the music.

“Hold still, will you?” Keefe whined. “I’m trying to see if this Snickers bar is the same color as your eyes.”

Sophie groaned. “Great, now my eyes will be compared to a dumb human candy bar, too. It’s bad enough that they look like horse eyes.”

“Foster, one of these days you’re going to have to accept that everyone in the elven world thinks your eyes are gorgeous.”

“They don’t, though.”

“That’s because they’ve made the mistake of not listening to me. Now _hold still.”_

Sophie felt her face flame at the compliment, but when she tried to duck her head, Keefe tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his, holding the stupid Snickers bar in his other hand. She briefly considered looking anywhere but at him, but gave up after a glance into his eyes.

God, but she thought his eyes were pretty. She remembered the first time she’d seen them, when Keefe was a Level Four guiding her through the Foxfire halls to the healing center. At first, they’d vaguely reminded her of a Siberian Husky’s eye color, although his were a shade darker. She hadn’t been as captivated as she had with Fitz’s eyes, but she thought _everyone_ was fighting a losing battle there—no one had more unique eyes than the Vackers.

Didn’t mean Keefe Sencen’s were any less entrancing, though...but that might be because they were _his_ eyes.

She felt her face grow hotter as their gazes locked, as Keefe quietly studied her. Then he grinned and leaned back, taking a bite of the Snickers bar.

“Okay, it’s official,” he said, his mouth full of candy bar. “Snickers bars have nothing on you.”

Sophie rolled her eyes, trying to fight her blush back down. “Hooray, I guess.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Keefe agreed after swallowing his bite. “Eating your eyes does _not_ sound fun.”

“Eeewww.” Sophie picked up the throw pillow on the couch behind them and smacked the back of his head with it.

Mischief glowed in his eyes, and Sophie smacked him in the face with the pillow as he opened his mouth to say something.

“Oh, it’s _so on_, Foster,” Keefe insisted as he grabbed a pillow and whacked her over the head with it.

Sophie giggled and got to her feet, trying for the high ground. But it wasn’t long before Keefe was on his feet, too, using his height to his advantage, and then they were chasing each other around the couch, around the entire living room, whacking each other in the knees, the stomach, the shoulders, the head (always gently with the head), until Sandor and Ro both marched into the room and folded their arms across their chests, glaring.

Keefe half-heartedly tossed his pillow, and it bounced harmlessly off Ro’s arm. The glare she gave him was probably meant to say, _just wait until I have my flesh-eating bacteria on me and you’ll be toast, _but it only fueled their giggles, and soon both Keefe and Sophie were sitting on the floor trying to catch their breath between laughs.

Sandor and Ro rolled their eyes and stepped back outside again to their patrols.

Sophie leaned back against the couch, wheeze-giggling, watching Keefe do the same. The way his eyes sparkled, the way his entire face glowed with his grin, the way his laugh sounded all throaty...god. Sophie couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t stop catching the laughter bug even when she finally thought she was immune.

This was her favorite thing about Keefe. Everything was so _easy_ with him; it felt like the most natural thing in the world to sit next to him, leaning in towards each other, laughing about nothing other than their own sleep deprivation. Everything about Keefe lit her up...everything about him felt like a safe place.

“Ro looked like she was gonna kill me,” Keefe laughed, a small wheezy giggle that was both precious and infectious all at once, and then Sophie was giggling again, and they were leaning against each other, both struggling to breathe over the laughing, both clutching their stomachs.

“She’d better not,” Sophie managed to say as she calmed down.

Keefe’s smile softened into something sweeter, and Sophie winked at him. “Killing you is my job.”

Keefe snorted, and then they were both giggling again, and god, it wasn’t even funny, and Sophie _could not_ stop laughing.

She laid her head against his shoulder, both of them still giggling, and when they finally managed to start taking slow, deep breaths, Sophie heard “Dying in LA” playing faintly on the speaker back in the kitchen.

“Tired,” she mumbled, slouching against Keefe even more. “Don’t wanna sleep. Nightmares.”

“Same,” he agreed, resting his cheek against the top of her head. “Gotta do something crazy instead.”

“Any ideas?” Sophie asked, yawning.

Keefe scoffed once. “Um, the only stupid thing I can think of is trying to shirk our overprotective bodyguards and go skinny-dipping out past the cliffs.”

The image of both her and Keefe streaking across the Havenfield grounds, Sandor and Ro on their heels, made Sophie burst out laughing again.

“Can-can you even ima-imagine,” she wheezed between her body-shaking laughs.

Keefe laughed, looking like he was picturing the same scene she was, and then he was doubled over, laughing so hard Sophie couldn’t hear him doing it, which only made her laugh harder. And when Keefe finally caught his breath and kept howling with laughter, the tears streaming down his face did her in.

She fell back onto the floor, rolling around, absolutely dying with laughter. Keefe toppled over, himself, and for the next five minutes all they could do was wheeze-laugh like old human men who’d lost all their teeth—which they both found _hilarious._

Sophie finally started getting herself under control again, giggling as she watched Keefe try to catch his breath. Keefe finally managed to get his laughter under control, grinning at Sophie, and the corners of his eyes crinkled so sweetly, and then, and then—

And then they were kissing.

Sophie was wide awake just like that, no longer drowsy or slap-happy. She didn’t know who started it, couldn’t say whether she or Keefe had been the one to lean in, but they were kissing, all right, and...

And god, it felt fantastic.

Sophie slid her hand to the back of Keefe’s head, threading her fingers in his hair, kissing him back. She felt a little twinge of pleasure when Keefe’s arm looped around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

His mouth tasted faintly like candy. How long had she wanted to do this? Sophie tried to think back, but everything in her mind had gone pleasantly fuzzy at the warmth of Keefe’s mouth on hers. And she decided it was better that way, better to let everything be fuzzy, better just to feel.

And god, did it feel good.

She could do this forever, Sophie realized. Keefe’s mouth was so warm, so soft, so eager and inviting...she didn’t want to know what would happen if they stopped.

A flutter of panic surged through her when Keefe moved to lean away from her—_nonono please_. She didn’t want this to end, didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to _think. _All she wanted was to make this moment last for as long as it possibly could.

She tightened her hand in his hair and crushed her mouth back against his, coaxing his lips to move over hers again. Keefe hesitated for only half a second before relenting, kissing back just as hard, rolling them until he had her pinned beneath him.

Sophie kissed like she would never get enough of him, like any space between them was space wasted. She wrapped an arm around his chest and dug her fingers into the back of his shirt, clinging like she was afraid he’d get away. There was an edge of something like desperation in Keefe’s kisses, which set all of Sophie’s senses alight. Maybe, just maybe, he needed her as achingly as she needed him. She sandwiched one of his legs between hers and kissed him like air was overrated, like she needed to breathe him in instead, and the hum of pleasure Keefe made set all her nerves ablaze.

_God, Sophie, what are you doing?_

Sophie felt the flutter of panic again, and when she let go of Keefe’s shirt and tried to put some space between them, a growl rumbled in the back of Keefe’s throat. He rolled them again, settling her on top of him and sealing his mouth back over hers. He snaked an arm around her waist, holding her firmly against him, and wove his fingers through her hair for good measure.

A blast of warmth that felt like sunshine ran through Sophie’s blood. The knee-jerk reaction of panic subsided again—she still didn’t want to think, just wanted to stay in this moment as long as she could. And she wondered if Keefe knew it, too...knew it and wanted the same thing.

No thinking, then. Only feeling.

Sophie settled her hand along Keefe’s jawline, surprising herself when she leaned back just enough to sink her teeth into his lower lip. He made a desperate noise against her lips that made her blood sing in her veins, warming her to the tips of her toes. She had a second to grin before Keefe’s hand tightened in her hair, slotting his lips against hers again, searching her mouth so deeply Sophie wondered whether their teeth would clack together. She sighed against his mouth, a delighted little hum, and felt shivers run down her spine when Keefe held her closer, kissed her gentler.

She’d thought the hard, desperate kisses were the best that kissing could get. But she felt deeply unprepared for the way Keefe kissed her gently, deliberately, like they had all the time in the world…like the only thing that mattered to him was her. Her insides felt like afternoon sunlight mixed with the way blitzenberries fizzled on her tongue, and Sophie felt herself effortlessly match his ardor, his intensity, with her own kisses. Because as reluctant as she’d be to admit it, the world Sophie saw had narrowed down to this moment, to the way their mouths fit together, to all the things their lips could say without speaking a single word.

She didn’t know when, but at some point they were laying side by side again, still kissing. Their lips brushed against one another, slower and slower, until the kisses were long, lingering, and feather-soft.

Exhaustion ran through Sophie’s body, along with another feeling she couldn’t quite place—like safety and contentment and yearning all at once. But she couldn’t lean back, couldn’t bear to try and face whatever Keefe would say. She couldn’t take any lighthearted jokes, not about this. She couldn’t bear to _think_ through this, not when it felt this right. She refused to ruin this memory for herself with _thinking_.

The kisses grew even slower, even softer, until the touch of their lips was as light and gentle as gossamer wings. _Safe, sound, home_ were words floating through Sophie’s weary mind as she sank into the steady, gentle way Keefe’s hand rested at the base of her jaw, along her neck, at the feel of her hand resting against his ribs. She felt herself drifting, but still she kissed back, still she refused to back away, still she kept him close...

\---

When Sophie opened her eyes, midday sunlight shone into the room. She blinked, trying to get her bearings.

“Morning, sleepyhead. Or should I say afternoon?”

Sophie sat up and turned around. Edaline sat in one of the comfy chairs, a mug of tea in her hand, grinning at her.

Sophie felt her face warm as she smoothed her hair into a messy ponytail. “Uh, hi.”

“It looked like you had a party in here last night when I came down this morning.”

Sophie glanced at the couch and coffee table around her—all the snacks from the other night were gone, cleared away while she was sleeping.

A sudden rush of panic squeezed her heart, and she struggled to her feet. “Where’s—”

“Keefe?”

Edaline nodded to an adjacent couch, and Sophie spun around, her heart in her throat.

Keefe had a mug of cinnacreme in his hands.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Keefe said, a soft smirk on his lips.

He dropped his gaze into his mug and took a long sip.

Sophie’s thoughts were going a mile a minute, which was how fast she felt like her heart was pounding. Okay. Okay. It was morning. Or afternoon. Or something. It was later. She’d stayed up because she couldn’t sleep. She’d let Keefe come over. They’d had loads of human junk food and done goofy dances to her music.

And they’d—

Sophie gulped.

“That’s an awful lot of dread you’re feeling, Foster,” Keefe said softly, not making eye contact.

Sophie scrambled around to come up with a good excuse. “Yeah, I’m just…it’s a lot later than I expected. And I’m wondering whether I’m in trouble.”

Sophie glanced at Edaline apologetically, and Edaline just grinned and shrugged.

“Keefe Sencen is always welcome at Havenfield,” Edaline said simply. “He knows he has a standing invitation to stay in Jolie’s old room, now that I’ve cleared it into a guest room.”

“That wasn’t necessary,” Keefe mumbled, staring into his mug with an ashamed look on his face.

“Oh, posh,” Edaline replied, waving her hand dismissively. “We offered because we wanted to. I made you breakfast, too,” she added, looking at Sophie. “Do you want to eat it in here?”

“No, I’ll go find it,” Sophie insisted a little too quickly, turning and fleeing the room as calmly as she could.

Her panic didn’t subside when she was out of the living room. It was hard to grab the bowl of orange glop that tasted like banana bread and the mug of cinnacreme Edaline had left out for her on the kitchen counter and act like nothing was wrong. _Everything _was wrong. It felt like one of the cornerstone pieces holding her life as she knew it in place had fallen out of its spot and was in a freefall for the ground, where it would shatter into unsalvageable pieces.

Sophie set her bowl and mug at one of the spots by the window in the breakfast nook, and then carefully, gingerly, lifted her hand and ghosted her fingers over her lips. They still felt the faintest bit swollen, so she knew she hadn’t dreamed it, hadn’t dreamed how Keefe’s mouth had moved over hers, how hers had moved back.

A small part of her was giddy, high above the clouds, at the realization that it had been real. And that was the part Sophie couldn’t ignore. She’d _wanted _that to happen. She didn’t know how long Keefe had meant something to her that way, but the way all the cells in her body had screamed _FINALLY_ when they’d kissed…it had probably been a long time.

And it was that small part of her that made the rest of her feel so much worse.

Sophie wasn’t an idiot. She knew that Keefe was a _terribly_ important person in her life. She knew that, no matter how strong that little piece of her that thrilled at the thought of their kissing grew, Keefe would always mean something vital to her beyond that. Sometimes it felt like he was the most important friend she had when she needed to cope with all of her crap.

She could _never, ever_ put Keefe’s importance to her in jeopardy with something like giddy feelings that she was unsure how long would last. She _refused _to allow things to become awkward between them—and she knew they would. How could someone like Keefe care about someone like her that way? That was _highly_ improbable wishful thinking.

She willfully ignored the memory that flashed through her mind—the sincere, gentle, earnest way Keefe had kissed her.

Wishful thinking.

Sophie took a bite of her breakfast, trying to savor the taste, but everything tasted bland.

“Wow, I don’t usually get this stuff for breakfast at home,” Keefe said. “But I’ve _got _to insist on having it more often.”

Sophie tried to smile, but it felt like her face muscles were frozen.

Keefe sat down across from her and took a bite of food, gazing out the window. “Quite the night we had, huh?”

Sophie took a deep breath and braced herself. “Yeah, we were out for a _while_. We must’ve really exhausted ourselves. I’m not even really sure how we did it; everything seems a little blurry to me.”

Sophie’s heart twinged as Keefe’s easygoing smile fell. He recovered quickly with a trademark smirk, but something about it felt a little off.

“Yeah, all I can remember is that at one point, I took the cheese puffs bucket and wore it like a hat,” he said, and if there hadn’t been a look of resignation in Keefe’s eyes, Sophie would have believed his bravado.

But it was for the best. She couldn’t bear it if Keefe teased her about this. Not this. _Never_ this.

She could only half smile, only force a little bit of laughter. “It looks like the cheese dust did protect you from ogres, after all.”

“That’s what _you_ think!”

Sophie turned to see Ro marching into the breakfast nook, Sandor on her heels.

“This one threw a pillow at me last night. He knows the consequences to an assault on my person,” Ro explained, mischief alight in her eyes. “And no _human food dust_ is going to save him now.”

Keefe sighed, and Sophie felt that sigh all the way down to her bones. It was how she felt, too.

“What’s the punishment?” Sophie asked without really caring about the answer.

Keefe rolled his eyes. “I have to swap out all of my hair products for ones of _her_ choosing for two days.”

“Say goodbye to your carefully rumpled beach boy look,” Ro said cheerfully. “And as for the replacements…let’s just say you won’t be thinking about assaulting my person ever again.”

“The pillow barely hit you,” Keefe reminded her. “But I’ll make sure I have Dizznee on standby.”

“We’ll see if he’ll even be able to help you,” Ro said, clearly delighted.

Despite Sophie’s current despair, she couldn’t help thinking that Keefe ought to look at least a _little_ more nervous about that.

“I should probably head home. As much fun as it is to freak my dad out by disappearing without a trace, I’ll be in for it the longer I’m gone.”

Sophie nodded, but she was pretty sure he was finding any excuse not to be around her anymore—he’d had no trouble at all living in Alvar’s old place for months on end and worrying Lord Cassius that way.

She tried not to let that hurt. It _was _her fault, anyway, for basically throwing herself at him last night.

Probably. She still couldn’t remember who’d leaned in first.

Keefe took another few large bites of breakfast, then he stood up from the table.

“You don’t have to leave yet if you don’t want to,” Sophie said quietly as she followed him out of the breakfast nook.

The smile on Keefe’s face looked…sad. “You don’t have to say that. I’m pretty good at figuring out when I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

Sophie opened her mouth to protest, but then she realized that any protests she made would only make her look desperate. And she’d already acted desperate enough last night, completely embarrassing herself in the process.

Probably. She _still _couldn’t remember who’d leaned in first.

“Good luck with the, you know, hair…thing,” Sophie mumbled, feeling ridiculous and awkward for the first time ever around him.

“Bye, Foster,” Keefe whispered, and Sophie met his eyes, saw an emotion she didn’t know how to describe other than “final”, before he and Ro glittered away.

Sophie swallowed and folded her arms over her stomach, suddenly feeling very, very alone. She wasn’t sure what to do now…not sure what she _wanted _to do.

“I’ve passed by you about three times now and you’re still standing here.”

Sophie looked up and saw Grady examining her, a thoughtful look on his face.

Sophie shrugged. “Guess I got lost in thought or something.”

“Hm.” Grady took a deep breath, then clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Wanna come help me feed Verdi some cravettels? I think she’s finally starting to get a taste for them.”

Sophie shrugged and went with him, not feeling strongly either way.

The next three days felt like that, all day long—Sophie feeling rather noncommittal, numb. Grady and Edaline kept her busy with chores; Biana and Linh came over to hang out for a few hours; Dex hailed her one evening to check on her; Fitz even stopped by with a couple of little gifts.

All of it was so sweet, and Sophie made all possible efforts to let her friends bolster her out of this funk. She tried to enjoy it, tried to keep functioning at normal capacity, tried not to wallow…but when night came, every night Sophie found herself staring at the ceiling, watching the evening light glint against the crystals hanging over her bed, and thought miserably about Keefe.

She hadn’t heard from him since he left her house with Ro, and she was too nervous about what that meant to try reaching out, herself. What if he was avoiding her?

It could just be that he didn’t want her to see his hair in whatever ghastly state Ro’s chosen hair products left it in.

But that had only lasted two days, and Keefe had had Dex on standby—something Dex had mentioned during their hail, but Sophie had avoided asking much about.

God, she hated this.

After the third night without any sleep at all, Edaline asked gently whether Sophie would like a few drops of somnalene in her eyes, and Sophie agreed without elaborating. Even with the gentle stars in her vision, even with the knowledge that she was a small part of a large, interconnected web, Sophie still didn’t get as much rest as she needed.

Sophie was desperate enough the next night to reach out to Silveny, despite not wanting to bother the new alicorn mama.

_SOPHIE! FRIEND! HI!_

_Hey,_ Sophie transmitted, unable to help a little smile. _How’s your family? Is everything going okay?_

_BABY OKAY! BABY OKAY! SAFE!_

Silveny transmitted a peaceful scene of a forest clearing, where adorable baby alicorns were snuggled up against their dozing papa.

That helped Sophie feel a little bit better. _Good, I’m glad._

_SOPHIE OKAY?_

_I…_ Sophie paused, and before she could stop it, Silveny had rifled through all the memories at the forefront of Sophie’s mind. Sophie sucked in a breath and pushed the memory of Keefe leaving Havenfield from her mind. _I’m…okay._

_NOT OKAY, _Silveny insisted. _SOPHIE SAD. KEEFE?_

_Yeah, I guess I’m a little sad about Keefe. _Sophie sniffed and felt a single traitorous tear trail down one of her cheeks. This was ridiculous. Sophie almost never cried. Why should this time be any different?

Silveny went through more of Sophie’s memories, and Sophie felt herself blushing a little at the ones Silveny lingered on.

The gentle way Silveny asked her next question made Sophie even more embarrassed.

_SOPHIE…LOVE KEEFE?_

_What?! No! Not… _Sophie trailed off, her memory flashing back to how carefully they’d held each other. _Not…_love, _necessarily. Not like you and Greyfell. Maybe…like?_

_SOPHIE! KEEFE! LIKE!_

Silveny, to Sophie’s surprise, seemed _very _excited by this concept. And the more Sophie considered it, the more it made sense…Sophie and Keefe _were _her two most favorite elves.

_MAYBE like, _Sophie clarified. _It’s not some done deal or anything._

_KEEFE GOOD! LIKE! FRIEND!_

_He’s a pretty good friend, yeah, _Sophie conceded, sighing. _I haven’t talked to him in a while and it’s a little sad. I’ve had trouble sleeping._

_HELP! SOPHIE! SLEEP!_

Sophie smiled as Silveny began imagining how it felt to gallop at top speed through a grassy field.

_Thank you,_ Sophie transmitted softly, settling back into her pillow.

But Silveny had one last thing to say.

_VISIT!_

_You…want to come visit me?_

_NO! YES! LATER! _Silveny seemed a little frustrated. _YOU! KEEFE! VISIT!_

_You want me and Keefe to come visit you? _Sophie asked, frowning.

_NO! YES! NO!_

Silveny seemed exasperated and started again. _SOPHIE VISIT KEEFE!_

Sophie opened her eyes in surprise. _You think I should go see Keefe?_

_YES! SOPHIE! KEEFE! VISIT! _Silveny affirmed. _SOPHIE LONELY! SOPHIE VISIT KEEFE! SOPHIE GOOD!_

Sophie couldn’t help smiling. _Keefe won’t solve all my problems, but yeah, that might be an idea._

_GOOD. SOPHIE TRUST, _Silveny commanded, and Sophie snorted as Silveny went back to imagining grassy fields and blue skies.

Sophie considered what Silveny said for a few moments before succumbing to the alicorn’s transmissions. It felt a little…ballsy, she guessed, to show up at Keefe’s place unannounced. But then again, how many times had Keefe done that to her? And she’d never minded.

Plus, Sophie didn’t want to keep waiting for Keefe to reach out first. She had a feeling that if she waited any longer, she’d rouse her family and friends’ suspicions.

Which was _the last_ thing Sophie wanted right now.

_Tomorrow_, she decided firmly, clutching Ella to her heart and settling in.

_SOPHIE GOOD SOON_, Sophie thought she heard Silveny transmit right before she finally fell into slumber.

\---

The key, Sophie was sure, was to not overthink her decision.

Which was, of course, the opposite of Sophie’s instincts, and therefore a recipe for disaster.

She overthought her decision when she woke up and fed Iggy. She overthought her decision again when she went downstairs and ate breakfast. She overthought her decision again when she got in the shower—and showered longer than she needed to. And she overthought her decision again when she opened her closet and rifled through to find something to wear.

She’d changed her mind and changed it back a total of twelve times before she made it to the leapmaster.

“Going somewhere?” Edaline asked as Sophie passed her on the stairs.

That question alone almost made Sophie turn around again. “Yeah, um…I’m gonna go hang out with Keefe at the Shores of Solace.”

Edaline’s eyebrows raised the slightest bit, and Sophie felt her face turn scarlet as Edaline shrugged and said too casually, “Oh, okay. Well, tell Keefe he’s allowed over anytime he wants. Grady would never say it, but he really appreciates having Keefe help with the animals.”

“I’ll let him know,” Sophie said, feeling her face burn as Edaline went past her, a secret-looking smile on the woman’s face.

_Mothers_.

“Not a word from you,” Sophie muttered to Sandor, her silent shadow.

“Oh, sure, you can tease me about _my _love life all you want,” Sandor muttered as they finally reached the cupola.

“The Shores of Solace,” Sophie whispered, a beam of light appearing in front of her.

This was her last chance to back out. Last chance to overthink, over-consider…

She took a deep breath and whooshed it out in one go, her grip on the bag of salt and vinegar chips she held tightening as she and Sandor stepped into the light.

The early afternoon sun made the Shores of Solace shine, looking just as beautiful as every other time Sophie had seen it. She ignored the bittersweet memories that came with the place—memories of her human family—and headed towards the mother-of-pearl walls and vine-wrapped arches.

Lord Cassius looked rather surprised when he answered the door.

“Miss Foster, we meet again,” he murmured, nodding to Sandor as well.

“Is Keefe around?” Sophie asked, trying to stifle her weirded-out-ness at Lord Cassius’s typical creepy smile.

“My son is currently, ah, otherwise indisposed,” he said, glancing at the large bag of chips in her one hand and grimacing slightly. “I believe he and the ogre will return later.”

Sophie bristled at the way he referred to Ro as “the ogre”, but decided to let it slide and shrugged. “Okay. Mind if I wait for him to come back?”

Lord Cassius did, in fact, look a smidge reluctant, but he pasted on his oily smile and opened the front door wider. “Do come in.”

He led Sophie and Sandor through several rooms and mini courtyards until they were in a living room area directly off the back porch, overlooking the beach.

“Well, I hope you won’t think me a rude host,” Lord Cassius began as Sophie sat down on one of the couches. “But I’m currently in the midst of an assignment for the Council, and it requires my constant attention.”

“That’s fine,” Sophie said, pulling open the bag of salt and vinegar chips very, very slowly, letting the plastic squeak obnoxiously.

Lord Cassius looked like the noise was setting his teeth on edge, and Sophie tried not to smile. “Forgive me, but what, pray tell, are those?”

“These?” Sophie pulled the bag open a little bit more, relishing the way Lord Cassius winced. “These are human snacks.”

The look on Lord Cassius’ face told Sophie she might as well have admitted that they were animal feces.

“Ah,” he remarked lightly as Sophie took a chip out and showed it to him before opening her mouth and crunching it very slowly again, mouth open.

“Don’t worry, I won’t make a mess,” Sophie spoke around the chip, working to keep the grin off her face with each added degree of disgust Lord Cassius displayed.

“Yes, well, thank you,” he managed to say. “If you should need me for anything, I’ll be a few courtyards away.”

He practically fled the room, and Sophie grinned.

“Remind me not to anger you to the point where you become a menace on purpose,” Sandor muttered as Sophie kicked back and grabbed another chip.

She looked straight into Sandor’s eyes and crunched down on the chip, long and slow.

Sandor rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his meaty chest.

It was all bravado, of course. Sophie could feel her heart rate pulsing in her ears, feel the chest pains of anxiety, the longer and longer she sat on the couch, eating chips deliberately slowly. She didn’t really have a game plan for how this could go. Heck, she didn’t even know if Keefe would want to see her, since things had been silent on his end for about five days now.

All she knew is that she needed to salvage whatever she could with Keefe, because things couldn’t keep being awkward like they were now for much longer. She needed Keefe in her life. If she was honest with herself…she wanted Keefe in her life in a _specific_ way, but she’d put that aside just to have him there at all.

She only hoped he’d want to be in her life, too. If she had to put up with him teasing her about her feelings…so be it, she guessed.

She didn’t realize she’d been staring blankly into the half-full chip bag, a chip halfway to her open mouth, until the door to the porch swung open.

“Listen, either you cheated, or you’re just _really _bad at counting,” Ro was saying as she walked in the door.

“I didn’t cheat—_you’re_ the one who lost track,” Keefe protested from behind Ro.

Sophie looked up, chip poised for crunching, as Ro walked in and stopped when she detected Sophie and Sandor there.

Keefe finally came into view, running a hand through his (perfectly normal-looking) hair, and Sophie froze at the same time he did.

She’d come to expect a lot of things when hanging around Keefe Sencen.

Seeing Keefe shirtless and sweaty, however, was not something she’d been prepared for.

The surprise on Keefe’s face was interesting, especially when it mixed with another emotion Sophie couldn’t quite place. Just seeing him again, just making eye contact—it had felt like quite a while since she’d seen him, and yet like no time had passed at all at the same time.

_You’re staring, you’re staring, stop staring,_ Sophie told herself as she eyed him up and down. Good god, but he was attractive—she didn’t know how his clothes managed to hide him so well. Even the faint sunburn appearing on his broad shoulders complemented him.

She saved herself from too much embarrassment by chomping down on the chip in her mouth with a loud _crrrrunch._

“Sup,” she said, mouth full.

Keefe stood there in surprised silence for another moment before finally speaking up.

“Foster. I can’t believe my dad actually let you bring those in with you.”

She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I didn’t give him a choice.”

Slowly, like daybreak, a flat-out grin spread across Keefe’s face—and dear god, if he’d been handsome before, it was amplified tenfold when he smiled.

“I bet he’s losing his mind right now, wondering if you’re getting crumbs all over his living room. You’re my hero.”

Sophie felt her face flush, but she managed enough bravado to wink at him and pop another chip into her mouth.

“Sooo, were you…swimming?” She tried to guess.

“Oh,” Keefe looked down at himself, and Sophie wondered whether she was imagining the faint pink coloring his cheeks. “Ro made me do some ridiculous ogre training regimen. Said I was getting too cagey or something.”

“Because you _were_, and it was either run you through some drills for your own benefit, or slip you a particularly unpleasant bacteria,” Ro insisted, making a face at Keefe. “I chose the less entertaining, but more livable, option.”

Keefe rolled his eyes. “Whatever. So what kind of human snack is that?”

“Salt and vinegar potato chips,” Sophie explained with her mouth full. “They were a niche preference of mine back when I lived with humans. Want one?”

Keefe walked over to her and took the chip she offered, popping it into his mouth.

Sophie couldn’t help snorting at the way his face puckered up as he got a good taste.

“Foster, I’ve put a lot of questionable things in my mouth, but this…” Keefe struggled to swallow. “This might be the weirdest-tasting one yet.”

“Oof, you wound me. How many suspicious elixirs has Elwin forced down your throat?”

“I didn’t say it was the _worst_ thing I’ve ever tasted,” Keefe protested, stepping closer and reaching into the chip bag for another. “But it’s definitely the weirdest. And you say they were your favorite?”

“One of them,” Sophie affirmed, unable to stop the smile spreading over her face. God, she’d missed him. It hadn’t even been that long, and she’d missed him anyway.

Keefe was staring at her, like he was afraid she’d disappear if he looked away.

“Okay, I wanna hang out, but I’m...super-gross right now,” Keefe admitted, grimacing.

“I don’t mind,” Sophie said before she could stop herself, and now she was fairly certain her face was on fire.

Keefe chuckled. “Noted, but I’ll probably feel like a better host if I clean up a little. If I grab a super-quick shower, would you hate me?”

“I could never hate you,” Sophie reminded him, half-smiling. “Plus, it’ll give me more time to make your father nervous about my human food.”

Keefe grinned as he started backing towards one of the nearby hallways. “Perfect. Give me, like, ten minutes.”

Sophie spent the next ten minutes trying to decide what on earth they were going to do.

“Did you know that when you’re lost in thought, you chew, like, ten times louder?” Ro asked, grinning at Sophie.

Sophie flushed, embarrassed. “So long as it’s bothering Lord Cassius.”

“Oh, it is,” Ro confirmed. “I can feel his tension from here. Well played, Moonlark.”

Sophie took a mock-bow and grabbed another chip.

Keefe reappeared shortly, fully clothed, his hair still damp from his shower. Sophie bit her lip and tried not to stare again—it wasn’t _fair_ that he looked good no matter what he did.

“Hand them over,” Keefe insisted, taking the nearly-empty bag of chips out of Sophie’s hand and grabbing a few.

“I thought you didn’t like them,” Sophie reminded him, smiling.

Keefe crunched on them for a few moments before saying, “Nah, I think they’re growing on me. Plus, if you can eat them, Little Miss ‘ooh, plants are kinda gross’, then I can absolutely eat them.”

“I don’t think _all_ plants are gross!” Sophie protested, grinning.

Keefe grinned back. “Says the elf who had no problem eating animals.”

“I was living with humans! Humans don’t care about that. Plus, if they had plants that tasted like fried chicken or cheeseburgers, I’m sure they’d be happy to eat those instead.”

“Guess we’ll never know,” Keefe said with mock-sorrow, and Sophie playfully swatted his arm.

God, she’d even missed their little mini-arguments.

“Are there shells on the beach?” Sophie blurted without thinking. “I’ve never actually...been out on a beach with black sand before.”

Keefe smiled, and her traitorous heart twisted a little. “Yeah, it’s actually easier to find them on the sand when it’s dark-colored. Wanna go find some?”

Sophie nodded, getting up and following Keefe out onto the back porch.

The sun hung halfway between the horizon and the midday mark, sending a glare off the rippling blue ocean waves. Sophie took a deep breath of the salty air and was reminded of her human life, of the salty air in San Diego. She hadn’t realized how much she missed the smell, how long she’d gone without it.

“You weren’t waiting very long for me, right?” Keefe asked as they kicked off their boots and socks to walk barefoot through the sand.

“I’m not really sure,” Sophie admitted. “I kinda spaced out for a while.”

“It was around an hour,” Sandor called from the porch as Sophie and Keefe began wandering barefoot across the sand.

“Tell me they aren’t joining us on this walk,” Keefe groaned.

But Sandor and Ro, surprisingly, chose to remain on the porch steps. Although, Sophie noted, they would be able to see them unless they wandered out of sight behind a nearby rocky outcropping—the shoreline was very open.

“Does the sand make your feet all dirty-looking?” Sophie asked as they made it to the packed sand right along the waterline.

Keefe waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah. And I definitely _don’t_ go traipsing around the house in sandy feet just to annoy my father. Nope.”

Sophie laughed, letting the water lap at her toes. It was surprisingly warm, and Sophie wondered for a moment where, on the globe, the Shores of Solace was. Hawaii, maybe?

They spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, scouring the shoreline for pretty shells. Keefe had more luck than she did—the one entirely-intact shell she found was still home to a little sea snail, so she tossed it back out into the water.

“So it looks like your hair is just fine,” Sophie said after Keefe gave her a small handful of little shells.

Keefe scoffed. “Yeah, it was a good call to warn Dizznee about it. Ro made me use elixirs that not only turned my hair purple and frizzy, but receded my hairline back to here.”

He pointed to the top of his head, and Sophie snickered, trying to picture it, but it was pretty difficult.

“Is that why you didn’t hail me?” Sophie asked, and then mentally kicked herself—she wasn’t sure she was ready to jump into the serious talk yet.

Keefe’s grin faded a little. “Yeah, partly. But I got my normal hair back the day after the punishment was over.”

“Ah,” Sophie said, using one foot to swirl the ankle-deep water around.

“After that, I figured you probably didn’t want me around, you know?”

Sophie looked up in surprise. “Um, no. Why wouldn’t I want you around?”

Keefe shrugged, picking up a shell and attempting to skip it across the water. “I dunno, I just...”

“I thought _you _didn’t want to be around _me_,” Sophie said softly.

Keefe looked at her, confusion in his eyes. “What? No. I will never, ever want that.”

Keefe snapped his mouth shut, and Sophie couldn’t tell if his face was pink from the sun exposure or from blushing.

“I think I just,” Keefe started, picking up another shell and turning it over and over in his palm, “I figured I embarrassed myself pretty bad over at Havenfield.”

How had Keefe embarrassed _himself_?

“Oh...I thought _I’d_ been the embarrassing one,” Sophie mumbled, studying her feet.

“_No_, no, you weren’t embarrassing, what? You were perf...”

Keefe trailed off, suddenly very fascinated by the shell in his hands.

Sophie wasn’t sure what to say to that.

Keefe gripped the shell harder, turning and hurling it as hard as he could out into the waves.

“You were perfect, and I was _so stupid_, and I’m pretty sure I’ve screwed things up royally,” Keefe said, kicking at the oncoming wave and making a splash.

Sophie gulped, feeling some of the pieces coming together. Was this wishful thinking on her part? They couldn’t be, right? Keefe had _just said_...

And like a clap of thunder, things made sense.

“Oh,” Sophie whispered, stumbling back a step, mind whirling.

What if...it had been _both_ of them that leaned in?

But how? How could Sophie have gotten that lucky? How...

God, she sure hoped she was right about this.

Keefe ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Listen, Foster, I know I was stupid. I really don’t know what got into me. But I hope you’re not mad, that you still want to be fr—”

Sophie shut him up by grabbing his collar and launching up onto her tiptoes, pressing her lips against his.

God, she _hoped_ she was right, otherwise this was one hell of a bad decision.

Not that she was complaining in the moment. Keefe’s lips were just as soft, just as warm, just as perfect as they had been before. And god, if she wasn’t _completely _whipped for Keefe Sencen.

(That tiny part of her from before was back up in the clouds, singing “Hallelujah”.)

Keefe inhaled sharply in surprise. He put a hand on her hip to steady her, moved his hand away like he’d been burned, then relented and put his hand back, pulling her in closer.

Sophie’s heart gave a joyous little leap, feeling like a spark of electricity zinged through her veins. She leaned away, leaning back onto her heels, and looked at him to make sure she’d gotten it right. Keefe looked dazed, blinking multiple times, and when his face flushed, Sophie grinned—she’d been right.

_Thank god._

“I dunno, Keefe,” Sophie said, winking. “I don’t think being friends is gonna cut it for me.”

She let go of his collar and turned away from him, walking along the shoreline, trying to let her heart rate slow down enough to think properly again.

But it was a losing battle, and she knew it. Especially when she heard Keefe’s footsteps splashing behind her, hurrying to catch up.

Especially when he took her hand, weaving his fingers through hers, holding like he wasn’t planning to let go again.

Especially when he said, “Let’s be something else, then. Let’s be something more.”

Sophie squeezed his hand and looked up into his blue, blue eyes, wondering how she’d ever look away again.

“I…think that’s a great idea.”

The grin spreading over Keefe’s face filled Sophie’s heart to bursting, made her feel like she was freefalling, down and down and down. She didn’t know how she’d survive every day, feeling like this.

She could live with that.

**Author's Note:**

> COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS! :)
> 
> This was an absolute delight to write. Come follow me on tumblr at @silveny-dreams for loads more fun KOTLC content!
> 
> Much love x


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